Kodiak Borough OKs Water Upgrade for Village of Karluk

One parcel, two zoning districts, and a village waiting on reliable water. The commission voted 5-0 to clear the path.

The Native Village of Karluk moved a step closer to a reliable, year-round supply of clean drinking water Wednesday, after the Kodiak Island Borough Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a conditional use permit to overhaul the community's water treatment facility.

The 5-0 vote greenlights a project that adds a new water storage tank and new water lines — infrastructure meant to give the small Kodiak Island village a dependable source of potable water through every season.

The facility is "the primary source of drinking water to the Village of Karluk," Chris French of the borough's Community Development department told commissioners.

The permit came down to a line on a map. The water facility sits on a single parcel that straddles two zoning districts. In the Watershed District portion, French explained, the utility is already a permitted use. But the slice of the parcel inside the Conservation District required the commission's sign-off before the upgrade could go forward. Bringing the existing utility into compliance with the Conservation Zone was the case's entire purpose.

French said borough staff measured the application against borough code under KIBC Chapter 17.200, found it compliant, and folded the findings and conditions of approval into Resolution FY2026-022.

The public hearing drew a single caller: Karen Brown of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, who identified herself as working on the Karluk Water Treatment Plant Project. A commissioner confirmed ANTHC was a project partner and the applicant's representative. Brown's first attempt to dial in hit audio trouble; she reconnected and told the commission she was available for any questions.

They had none.

"I feel like your application was pretty thorough. We appreciate it," one commissioner said.

The motion carried, 5-0.